Liquid-level indicator



Se t. 6 1927.

p H. D. GEYER LIQUID LEVEL INDICATOR 2 Sheets-Sheet l Filed May 9, 19237*asses his Se t. `19

p- 6 27 H. D. GEY'ER LIQUID LEVEL INDICATOR Filed May 9, 1923 PatentedSept. 6, 1927.`

, Y UNITEDST'TES PATENT OFFICEQ i HARVEY D. GEYER, or DAYTON, omo,AssrGNon To DAYTON-WRIGHT COMPANY, or.

' means'f'which may be located on the under DAYTON, OHIO, A CORPORATIONOF DELAWARE.

LIQUID-LEVEL INDICATOR.

Application filed my e, `192s. serial mi; ls313835.` f

This invention relates to a liquid level indicator for liquid within atank. l

An object of this invention is to provide a very simple and eiicientformof indicator means which functions uniformly and vis `very unlikelyto get out of order.

Another object is to provide an indicator side of tank and yet have thetank sealed to prevent'all possibility of leakage at the pointfdfattachment of the indicator.

Further objects vand advantages of the presehtinvention will be apparentfrom the following description.v reference being had to theiaccompanyingdrawings .wherein a preferred Aform of the present-invention is clearlyshown..

In the drawings:

Fig.. 1 shows a vertical section through the entire indicator mechanism,the tank to -which it is applied being shown in dotted A lines.

Fig. 2 is a side elevation ofa part of the mechanism showing the peephole for reading the indicator.

Fig. 3 is a section' o n line of. Fig. l. Fig. 4 isa section onv line4'-4.of Fig. 1. Fig. 5 is a top view of the indicator drum and themagnetic means attached y position.

thereto as indicated byline 5-5 of Fig.. 1.

with parts broken away to showthe means for attaching the indicator drumcoverin Similar-reference numerals refer toxsimii la'r plarts throughouttheseveral views.

e bottom of the tank is indicated b numeral 10. A round hole'is cutthrong Y. the bottom and a flanged and shouldered v effective sealagainst leakage;

other suitable form of gasket or'packbushing 11 insertedtherein andclamped.`

securely to the bottom 10 by means of a ring nut 12. The tank shown inthe'drawings is one especiall designed as a yfuel tank to be placed inthe wing of an airplane and hence is covered with a rubberized covering13 and has aslanting'or irregularbottom as shown. The irregular shapedwasher or ring 14 is provided with a circular bead 15 which 'bears intothe rubber covering 13 'when the nut 12 is tightenedandfforms anv .Ofcourse any could beA used.

Fig. 6 i's a section on line' 6--6' of Fig. 1,v and Fig. 7 is a view vonline 7--71 of Fig. 2`

to permitl the liquid level w1thin`cy1inder-21 t to be `the same as theliquid level in the tank. A spiral ribbon 23 extends throughan open- Ing24 threugh float 20 and is rotatably mounted within ,cylinder 21 uponasuitable needle point bearing 70 at its lower end so that it is freelyrotatable with a minimum amount of friction. The opening 240i float 2Ois provided with a cover late 25 having a slot 26 therein through w ichribbon 23 extends and in which the ribbon is freely slidable. butheldagainst lrelative rotation with float 20. If desired,.two antifrictionbearing members 27 of some hard substance such as agate may be. providedat the sides of slot 26 to Jreduce friction and revent binding betweenthe ribbon`23` and oat 20; Float is freely movable.` up and down. withincylinder 21 but is held against rotation by means of two pins 30attached thereto and which slide "up anddown within the vertical grooveor guide 31, (see Fig. 3). It is obvious that as fioat '20 is raised orlowered onl the' surface of the liquid the slot 26 through which ribbon23 extends -will causethe ribbon to revolve, since` the lribbon Cisrotatably mounted and the float is not.

The ribbon 23'is preferably given such ay ition from thebottommost'position' ofthe ioat, that is, when the tank is empty, to thetopmost position of the float, that 1s,'when the tank is full.. Suitable'stops 32 may be4 providedto take' the weight of the ioat 20 100 at itslow'erflimit.l

A magnet 40 having two poles 41 adjacent to -and facing the base 16,isfrigidly attached to the rotatable ribbon 23. On the `under side ofthe base 16 there is rotatably mount- 105 ed on bearings a second magnet42 having its poles 43 facing the poles '41 and separate therefrom onlybyV very narrow air gapsand thesm'all thickness'f base 16.

Of course' base 16 should be o f or 110 other non-ma eticl material sothat the Hux circuit aroun through the two magnets and 42 will not beinterfered with..I

It will vbe obvious to those skilled in the art t at the ma et 42,whichis freely rotatab e, will be ragged around by the magnetic flux so thatits poles43 liedirectly opposite the pole 4L An indicator drum 50 isrigidly attached by any suitable means to ma Preferabl drum 50 is ofthin aluminumor other lig t material so that the friction upon thebearings 45 will b e very small and hence permit magnet 42 to alwaystake an exactly aligned position with magnet 40. If ldesired themagnets.40 and 42 may be made of sufficient size and strength to lift the weightof the drum l-.and 1nagnet42, in which case vthe. bearings 45 will actonly as guides and hence present only a very small amount of friction.The lower bearl i ing 45 is supported upon a .bo'ss .46 on the U-shapedstrap 47 which extends aroundA the outside of drum 50- and is rigidly.fas-

tened by suitable means to the stationary base 16. j i

the base 16 and is secured in Al cup shaped coven 51 for drum 50 tssnugly up around a depending flange 52 on lace by the angular slots-53in its upper e ge en aging with the lugs 54 on the flange 52 (see' ig.7). A spring 55 presses against the strap 47 and so presses cover 51downwardly to` .prevent disengagement of lugs 54 and slots 53. The cover51 is provided with a suitable peephole or transparent window ,throughwhich the indicia on drum 50 may beiobserved. Since magnet 4Q makes onecomplete revolution during the travel of oat 20 from its full tankposition to its em ty Ytank position it will be clear from the fbregoingthat drum .50 will also make one complete revolution during this'time.By suitably markin the riphery of drum 50 the position o the uid levelin thetank will be indicatedv at a times. Y n

' If desired,` instead of having both magnets 4Q and 42 permanentmagnets, either A one `may be a permanent magnet whilethe other may -bea piece of soft iron of high gnet 42 and is rotatable therewith.

aeeasso either a permanent magnet or an easily mag netized member whichhas the characteristics of the magnet after being magnetized.

While-the form of embodiment of the invention as herein shown anddescribed constitutes a preferred form, it is to be understood thatother forms might be adopted, all coming within the scope of the claimswhich follow. f

What I claim is as follows:

1. A liquid levelindicator for a tank including, a float movable withchanges in the The attraction bet-Ween the liquid level, magnetic meanslocated within the tank adjacent its bottom surface, means rotatable bythe movement of th'e float for actuating the magnetic means, and asecond magnetic means located without the tank but adjacent .to anddirectly below said'first magnetic means whereby said second magneticmeans is also rotatable by the movement of the float, said secondmagnetic means being also attracted against gravity action by said lirstmagnetic means whereby it is rendered more easily rotatable.

2. A liquid level indicator for a tank including, a float movable withchanges inthe liquid level, magnetic means located within' the-.tankadjacent its bottom surface, means rotatable by the movement of thefloat for actuating the ma netic means,` a second magnetic means l atedlwithout the tank but. adjacent :said first magnetic means.

whereby said second magnetic means is also rotatable by the movementofthe float,` and a'rotatable indicator means attached 4to saidsecond.magnetic means, said indicator and# second magnetic rmeans being so-mountedas to be attracted against gravity action y said first 'magneticmeans whereby said-indicator is rendered more easily rotatable.

In.test'imony whereof I hereto affix my signature. f

HARVEY D. GYER.

